Nichols Named Big 12 Athlete of the Week
January 27, 2021 | Track and Field
Texas Tech long jumper picks up first award as Big 12 athlete.
IRVING, Texas – For the second straight week, a Texas Tech jumper has claimed the Big 12 Conference's Women's Athlete of the Week award. This time, it was Monae' Nichols who claimed the recognition – her first since transferring to Tech – after taking the world lead in the long jump at last week's Red Raider Invitational.
"I am extremely proud of Monae'," said associate head coach James Thomas. "This is one of those years when you just do not take anything for granted. She went out there and competed and performed incredibly."
Monae' Nichols became the fifth Red Raider in the last seven days to take over as world leader in an event. Her monstrous mark of 22'-1.75" (6.75m) came on her third jump of the day, downing the school record and Sports Performance Facility record as well. Nichols, a transfer from Bethune-Cookman, upped her career best by a full foot with the jump. In addition to placing her at the top of the world leaderboard, her mark also counted as the 11th-best performance in NCAA history.
Nichols is the second Tech woman and third Red Raider total to be named an Athlete of the Week by the Big 12 this season. Fellow jumper Ruth Usoro picked up the honor last week after landing a triple mark of 46'-10.25" (14.28m) that took the world lead, broke the Nigerian record and counted as the second-farthest jump in NCAA history. She was joined last week by Takieddine Hedeilli, whose 1:45.98 800m broke the Algerian record and counted as the world lead.
Nichols (long jump, triple jump), Usoro (triple jump) and Hedeilli (800m) are all competing in their strongest events at this weekend's Texas Tech Invitational. The meet, which will run Friday and Saturday, will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
"I am extremely proud of Monae'," said associate head coach James Thomas. "This is one of those years when you just do not take anything for granted. She went out there and competed and performed incredibly."
The ????????-???????? long jump mark in NCAA history.
— Texas Tech Track & Field (@TexasTechTF) January 27, 2021
Plenty worthy of her first weekly award as a Big 12 athlete. pic.twitter.com/hKYVuLLuUe
Monae' Nichols became the fifth Red Raider in the last seven days to take over as world leader in an event. Her monstrous mark of 22'-1.75" (6.75m) came on her third jump of the day, downing the school record and Sports Performance Facility record as well. Nichols, a transfer from Bethune-Cookman, upped her career best by a full foot with the jump. In addition to placing her at the top of the world leaderboard, her mark also counted as the 11th-best performance in NCAA history.
Nichols is the second Tech woman and third Red Raider total to be named an Athlete of the Week by the Big 12 this season. Fellow jumper Ruth Usoro picked up the honor last week after landing a triple mark of 46'-10.25" (14.28m) that took the world lead, broke the Nigerian record and counted as the second-farthest jump in NCAA history. She was joined last week by Takieddine Hedeilli, whose 1:45.98 800m broke the Algerian record and counted as the world lead.
Nichols (long jump, triple jump), Usoro (triple jump) and Hedeilli (800m) are all competing in their strongest events at this weekend's Texas Tech Invitational. The meet, which will run Friday and Saturday, will be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.